Article October 18, 2010 Issue

Prayer in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

BY WALTER RODGERS

WHO AMONG US hasn't awakened in the middle of the night, troubled or angry about a slight or a grievous injustice? Lying in bed, wishing we could go back to sleep, we may have found ourselves mentally rehashing some victimization or unfairness, or rehearsing an imaginary argument or dialogue. Perhaps even plotting revenge in the guise of seeking justice. Such mental throes can hold us in their grip like a boa constrictor.

If you have been there, you may also realize each of us has a way out of this serpentine grip, a ready remedy for a crushing sense of self-justification, self-pity, and self-righteousness, which, like the snake, threaten to swallow us up.

It's doubtful anyone has experienced injustice and betrayal to the degree Christ Jesus did. There was no sleep for him in the garden of Gethsemane the night before his arrest and the kangaroo court trial that resulted in his crucifixion in Jerusalem. While Jesus' disciples rested—seeking escape in the oblivion of sleep—he prayed amid great mental turmoil in the darkness of night. After that, we are told, he prayed again, "more earnestly" (see Luke 22:39–46).

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